


Could Have Been? No, Still Can Be.

by Bam4Me



Series: Ain't It Good [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Autistic Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Knits, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Demiromantic Tony Stark, Demisexual Tony Stark, Google Translate Be Warned, Google Translation Italian Words, Hurt Tony Stark, Light BDSM, Little!Tony, M/M, Minor Happy Hogan/Pepper Potts, Minor Happy Hogan/Pepper Potts/Natasha Romanov, Minor James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Sam Wilson, Non-Sexual Age Play, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Panic Attacks, Papa!Steve, Platonic BDSM, Please Don't Kill Me, Sick!Tony, Sub Tony Stark, Timeline What Timeline, daddy!Bucky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-02-15 20:24:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13038756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bam4Me/pseuds/Bam4Me
Summary: The three of them were inseparable. If the Avengers didn't know any better they'd say they were all in love.Fortunately, they were also all smart enough to realize none of this clinging had started until Fury pointed out that Howard would have made Steve Tony's godfather in a heartbeat if Steve had been there. That's when Steve and Bucky started looking at things differently.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to have many chapters. Yes I'm as frustrated with that as you are I'm torturing myself too. When will it be updated? I dunno but it will and every time you ask me the time gets longer before I update I feel the need to tell y'all that cause that's literally all some of you care about you filthy animals.
> 
> Anyways, AU where one day Fury (cause he was there when SHIELD was still early and I headcanon that he used to babysit Tony at one point okay I imagine him watching toddler Tony with the same suspicion as he does mass murders lol) tells Steve that Howard wanted him to be Tony's godfather and suddenly him and Bucky are trying to parent this train wreck of an adult and of course, it leads to cutsey ageplay shit.
> 
> Note: Tony is a happy cuddly ball in this chapter. Blame it on the fever he has. He'll be hella embarrassed about this shit later lollllll.
> 
> avengersnonsexualageplay.tumblr.com

Tony sat up straight in bed with a grunt of exertion, wondering why his head was throbbing. He had to pause as the world starting spinning around him, nearly falling back to the -hot, too hot, everything was too hot- pillows while his brain started  _ pulsing _ inside his skull in a way that brought tears to his eyes. His chest felt tight like he was having an allergy attack, but his nose wasn’t running any, and whatever had woken him up had left his heart pounding in his chest like he’d been scared out of his mind. That, unfortunately, wasn’t unusual after waking up sometimes. Though his thoughts were blessedly free of the memories of any dreams. 

 

In short, everything was bad and he didn’t know what was going on.

 

Seconds after he sat up in the bed, so did someone else. Tony thought for a second it might be Rhodey -who was usually a safe bet when Tony woke up with a fever and not alone in bed… if it wasn’t Happy or Pepper, but they were across the country right now… he thinks…- but the voice who spoke up -sleep rough and so much accent that Tony knew he’d have trouble understanding if the words were bigger, but so comforting and… familiar? Why is that familiar?- as a hand found it’s way around Tony’s back and onto his hip, rubbing soothingly in a way that calmed him down.

 

“Hey doll, you’re fine, jus’ lay back down ‘n close those eyes it’s okay, just the fever-”

 

“No.” Tony tried pulling out of the super soldier’s grip. Why was Bucky in his bed? Oh god, if Tony’s slept with him he’ll never forgive himself. Other than the fact that he was borderline asexual and arguably aromantic, he can’t even  _ go there _ when completely sane and healthy, the idea othinking of the ramifications of what’s happening right now makes him want to cry a little, and he let out a sniffle as his hot -too hot- limbs weren’t able to push Bucky away at all. It was too hot, it felt like it was getting hotter. His arms were sore and he felt like throwing up from the pain in his head, he let out a weak sounding sob. “No, cattivo.”

 

Bucky was silent for a few seconds more, helping Tony untangle his legs from where he’d gotten locked into the sheets, not forcing him to stay in the bed if he didn’t want to. His Italian was rusty, but Tony hasn’t said a word in English since the fever set in nearly twelve hours ago. Jarvis said this was normal, and his fever wasn’t high enough for concern, but he wasn’t exactly aware of it either. “Cosa c’ é che non va, bambino?”

 

Tony gave him a watery looking stare before sliding off the bed and nearly to the floor in his scramble to get off the bed. “Caldo. Sto morendo.”

 

Bucky just sighed, following him off Tony’s bed, and glaring back at it when Steve -the fucking lug- just let out a snore and rolled over to starfish across the whole thing now that he was alone. Asshole.

 

When he got to the kitchen where Tony had fled to, he’d been expecting to have to pull Tony out of the freezer with the way he’d been crying about how hot it was -and to be fair, there was a heatwave in New York right now, which is why Steve was sleeping so well and Tony was all but dying with his added fever on top of that- but Tony was starfished out on the cold tile floor with a pleased sounding hum in the back of his throat, not quite asleep but not quite awake.

 

Bucky went over and not so subtly moved Tony’s damp curls out of the way so he could check the thermometer sticker on Tony’s forehead -it had cute little bees on it, and Tony had pouted and said Pepper got them for him- and sighed when he saw that Tony’s fever had climbed back up to a hundred and one. Not quite cause for hospital, or even asking Bruce to check up on him, but it was enough for Bucky to go the rest of the way to the fridge and pull an ice pack out of the freezer. The pleased sigh and mumbled ‘I love you’ that Tony let out when Bucky placed the ice pack on top of his back was enough to make him snort in amusement.

 

When you grew up with someone like Steve, in the depression, where a cold could kill someone, you learn not to freak out when someone gets sick and the AI system knows almost everything on the internet says he’s fine.

 

Well, he hasn’t freaked out much anyways. He might have caused a slight scene when Tony stopped speaking English, but he’s been told that it’s normal.

 

He’s also been told that Pepper once found him sleeping on the balcony in the middle of winter when Jarvis had sent her an emergency call in the middle of the night because he couldn’t convince Tony to come back inside.

 

Okay, he’s really worried, but he’s fairly sure he knows how to handle this.

 

After ten minutes he moved to take the ice pack back from the snoring engineer and stick it back in the freezer, shaking his head at how a grown ass man could sleep face down on the kitchen floor, but since he’d finally convinced Tony to sleep at all, he isn’t going to argue.

 

He took down a mug from the cabinet with a sigh, knowing that he’d be unlikely to get much more sleep tonight -unlike Steve and Tony, he actually slept best when he could feel a slight chill in the air, and Tony being sick had him a little on edge right now- so he reached over to flip on the electric kettle and make himself a cup of that tea Bruce said was supposed to relax him.

 

***

 

Tony had spent two whole days fevered and delirious before finally realizing that he hadn’t been fully there and tried to sneak off to his workshop, resulting in Steve bodily carrying the woozy man back to bed. Tony didn’t sleep much while fevered, he mostly just sat there in a grumpy mood while muttering incoherently in Italian and asking for more soup, even if he’d already had a bowl in front of him.

 

“You’re really strong and I hate it.”

 

Steve just looked at Tony in shock. “That was English! I understood that!”

 

Tony just glared at the man before he was set down on his bed. “I always speak English. Bucky, your husband is broken!”

 

Bucky knew it was a stupid reason to get a feeling out of -mainly because even with all the help from Tony’s stupidly named brain memory machine, Steve and Tony were often the only two in the tower that could actually get him to feel a little like he used to before the war, much less show emotions like a regular person- but whenever the team said that -called Steve his husband, or call him Steve’s, because they were unimaginative- he got all warm inside like he was… happy…

 

The first time it had happened, Bucky had just stared at Clint in shock before leaving the room to quietly ask Jarvis if he was possibly dying from some unknown poison. Jarvis had told him that his body was showing signs of raised dopamine levels in his body. He was  _ happy _ .

 

The concept had been entirely strange to him. He had a vague sense of what this felt like before the war, but now it was just… a warm feeling inside whenever Steve was paying him complete attention… a fluttering in his heart that made him want to clutch his chest whenever Tony turned those big doe eyes on Steve and played him like a fucking fiddle to get what he wanted… the way Natasha was a violent person at the best of times but on movie nights Bucky could find her curled up with any given teammate in a position that somehow managed to seem protective and trusting all at once… it was in these asshole he’d come to live with.

 

He took a moment before entering the bedroom to school his features into something that  _ wasn’t _ the dumbass grin that wanted to come out, but after a few seconds of watching the two of them -Tony glaring while Steve just grinned at him and helped him back underneath his covers- it wasn’t something he could hold back. He just felt so warm inside and it was… it was so good.

 

He was sure that what he felt for Tony wasn’t nearly the same as what he felt for Steve, but he just loved these two so much.

 

“He’s right, doll, you haven’t spoken English for a few days now. Steve doesn’t speak Italian though, I think you frustrated him a bit.”

 

Tony let out a little growl that tugged at Bucky’s heart. He sounded like a disgruntled kitten. “I don’t need to go back to bed. Stop it, I want to get up.”

 

Even as he whined, he didn’t fight against the hand gently pushing him back into the bed. Steve was careful to keep to Tony’s arms though, away from his chest and the reactor. He sniffled once, and Bucky wondered for a moment if he was going to cry -he looked a little like he might cry- but Steve seemed to pick up on that too and before Bucky could move in to help, the blonde was sliding under the covers with him, close enough that Tony could turn to and lay against if he needed to. Which he sort of did, but don’t tell anyone that because Tony was embarrassed about how much he wanted to. There was just something about Steve’s chest that made Tony think he was a bed or something.

 

Bucky was good for cuddling with on the couch, Steve was good for sleeping on, which is a fact that he has discovered and continues to rediscover every movie night when he inevitably falls asleep on one of them. It was awesome.

 

Bucky was staring at them for a long time when Steve looked up at him with a silent demand for him to join them, and Bucky sighed once, holding up a finger for Steve to wait before leaving the room. He came back a minute later with a bag of knitting supplies, sitting on the bed next to Tony who was barely half awake and setting up there until Tony woke up from his nap.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve tries to dissect his feelings and Sharon makes an appearance to threaten their lives. Good times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this????????? TWO chapters in TWO days?????? WTF okay my dude. Wow.

Fury had said it with such conviction.

 

_‘Howard would have made you his godfather if you’d still been around.’ That made Steve feel like shit for constantly arguing with Tony about such trivial things when Bucky seemed to get along with him just fine. As far as he knew, Howard was a pretty terrible father, he didn’t need Steve adding on top of that._

 

 _‘...wasn’t Obadiah his godfather?’ You know, the man who sold him to terrorists and still continued exploiting and manipulating him when he got home again? The man who’s hand Steve could always spot sitting low on the small of Tony’s back in photos in a way that made all their skin crawl. The man that Tony still flinched when he heard anything about, that he once asked if they thought Tony had_ done something _to upset him so much he wanted Tony dead._

 

_Yeah, that man. He was still ruining everything._

 

_Fury stared at him for a long minute, before looking away. He didn’t answer that. ‘Tony was a sweet boy when he was little. Hell, he’d still be sweet if he wasn’t so obsessed with being an asshole and keeping everyone at a distance. He’ll try to do that with you too. He’s obviously succeeding if you’re coming to complain about him pissing you off already.’_

 

_‘That doesn’t change the fact that he’s still avoiding the team.’_

 

_‘He let you come live in the tower with him, the man is a damn cat he let you inside his personal space that’s about as loving as he gets, Steve.’_

 

_Steve looked between Fury and the windshield of the helicarrier again, eyes roaming the view of New York from above. It was a jungle. ‘The mansion.’_

 

_‘Excuse you?’_

 

_Steve sighed. ‘He wants us to stay in the mansion. He says it’ll give us more privacy and he’d never planned on actually living in Stark Tower. He said it’ll have better facilities and… will bring the team closer together than having our own separate apartments. We’ll all have apartments in the tower too, but he wanted us there more.’_

 

 _Fury gave him an almost bland look. ‘He said he_ wanted _you to be closer together, so you come and complain that he’s not being a team player?’_

 

_‘He doesn’t listen in battle, and he never joins us in training unless we stronghold him, and now he’s uprooting us all to the countryside without asking first.’_

 

 _‘Which he just_ said _the entire reason for is so you can all be closer. I’ve been to Stark Mansion, it’s the only other place this side of the country he can actually work in. It’ll do you all good to breath fresh air for once.’_

 

That had… changed things.

 

Suddenly Steve found himself unable to leave the man be. He was so damn curious about everything that had to do with Tony Stark. Even when Tony got mad and tried pushing them away.

 

Actually, it was sort of easier to stop thinking of Tony as a callous jerk and start thinking of him as a cranky toddler. Tony only really pushed them away when he was tired or hurt.

 

He’d tried to push Bucky away when he’d come down with a fever, but that had only lasted as long as Tony’s English had. Which is, to say, not long.

 

Tony wasn’t an asshole. Not like Steve used to think he was anyways. He was reclusive, that was for sure, but Steve didn’t think it was because he disliked being around people, he thinks Tony just naturally chooses activities that lead to solitude. Like being one of the world’s leading engineers. That tended to lead to him being alone for anywhere from hours to days to weeks at a time.

 

It’s no wonder he’d wanted them all to move into the mansion instead, he was probably sick of being left alone so constantly. The way he clung to Steve and Bucky seemed to suggest so at least.

 

“Hey, what’s got you so upset?”

 

Steve reached over and gently tugged Tony’s chin up so he was looking up at them instead of glaring down at his hands where they were clenched in his soft sweatpants instead. “We came all the way out here so I could deal with meetings and then I got sick.” He sighed, sounding sad, before scrambling across the limo middle so he could wedge himself between the two super soldiers. “We’re just gonna have to come back next month to go through all the meetings I missed.”

 

Bucky grunted once when Tony shoved himself under his metal arm, adjusting his hold on the soft yarn so he could find a position where he could still knit and let Tony’s stay at the same time. He was making a blanket for Tony since the man always seemed to sit there and just feel the yarn from this ball whenever he was around. Pepper said his favorite fabric was handspun merino.

 

He settled down with his arm on top of Tony’s shoulders and comfortable in the seat while they drove back to the mansion.

 

“It’s okay doll, we’ll go with you when you need to come back into the city, we won’t leave you alone.”

 

Tony let out a little sigh at that, partially wanting to argue and partially wanting to… well, he sort of wanted to be relieved.

 

It had been _so long_ since someone had said that to him. Rhodey used to follow Tony everywhere in college, which Tony had loved because he was a dumbass fourteen year old who cried whenever he had to do laundry -which is why he somehow managed to make it all through college without once doing it- and didn’t know how to talk to strangers without someone -literally- holding his hand back then… but then Rhodey went off into the Air Force. Of course, he was still there and Tony trusted him with his life, but he didn’t act like Tony’s constant shadow anymore and it was sad.

 

Happy had taken over that job when Tony had hired him on… but now Happy was off in Malibu married to Pepper and being her perfect house husband or whatever weird adult stuff they’re into now days that Tony doesn’t want to think about.

 

Finally, he decided to snuggle into Bucky’s side a little, because life is scary and Tony doesn’t what to deal with anyone right now, and Steve and Bucky were like giant guard dogs who also knew how to cook and didn’t shed all over the house -much- and Tony appreciated them more than he was willing -or able- to say.

 

***

 

“You know there’s a difference between you two now. What with you not complaining about him not showing up to practice or that he’s constantly trying to pester the Hulk into coming out, as if he isn’t Bruce’s best friend and Bruce would _never_ get annoyed with him. Whatever it is, I want to know, because I want to know if I should be threatening to feed you your own severed dick, I guess, whatever it is the shovel talk consists of, I’m not sure because no one’s ever been dumb enough to give me it, but I guess that works to get my point across.”

 

Steve and Bucky looked between each other with a nervous glance, and Bucky resisted the urge to… run away… actually, that’s pretty impressive in and of itself for him because a year ago he’d be thinking of all the ways he could kill Sharon before she could kill him. Now he… actually knew that she wouldn’t go through with it? Well, no, that’s not it, Sharon would murder them both in a heartbeat if she thought either of them was going to bring any sort of harm to her godbrother -it amazes Steve how Tony could have turned out such a sweetheart who had troubles making friends and thought he had to buy them, where as Sharon grew up… just like Peggy…- but Bucky wasn’t going to murder her for it. No, he was damn proud that someone was willing to commit acts of cruelty that the Geneva convention would cry at for Tony.

 

Actually, so would Pepper, and Rhodey, and probably Happy -though that man’s name is aptly picked he’d probably have to be pushed fairly far after everything he’s seen in the last twenty five years being Tony’s bodyguard, though Bucky is sure he could get there- so the two of them are starting to realize that Tony simply attracts strong willed ride-or-die friends who would happily cut off a man’s dick and feed it to him if they thought he was going to get hurt. It was heartwarming to know that he’d surrounded himself by the people who could protect him in the ways he can’t protect himself.

 

The two of them shared a look -a cringe- before looking back at the cafe table. There were these delicate little tea cups they were drinking out of -Bucky had a strong breakfast tea and sandwich, Steve had that flowery lavender shit that the lady up the block used to drink when babysitting their annoying asses as kids, which is a memory that Bucky remembers because Bucky used to spend half the time in the corner while Steve, that fake little angel, would get praise and cookies for being such a sweet boy and never causing a fuss, mostly because he was always too tired to make a scene- and then the woman herself.

 

She had invited them out to a cafe out here in the middle of a little town up north of New York City that neither of them had known existed but was less than a five minute drive from the mansion, where as New York itself was a full hour away now. Steve and Bucky hadn’t known what she wanted them there for, but after ordering a tall glass of iced tea and a muffin with a sugar sweet smile that had the woman behind the counter swooning over her a little, she had proceeded to pull a flask out of _whoever the fuck knows where_ and pour about three shots worth of vodka straight into the glass before drinking.

 

Oh. Oh she would get along amazingly with Natasha. And Fury. And she probably learned that from Peggy herself. Actually, Bucky was impressed too.

 

Well Steve looked horrified. In fact, he had that look on his face that he only ever got when they’ve all done something Stupid™ and here comes Peggy, about to make them regret all life choices leading up to this moment. Well, at least it’s not just Bucky feeling the terror right now.

 

Steve let out a nervous little cough, looking away. “Um, it’s not like that, we don’t think of him that way.”

 

She nodded, looking pointedly between them. “Well good, at least you got something right. Tony doesn’t play like that. He doesn’t like sex, and I’m fairly sure dating makes him feel uncomfortable to the point of outright disgust. If you believe you can get to the point of _wanting_ that with him, stop now, because he’s not going to take it well. When Pepper first showed signs of having a crush on him, he all but threw Happy at her and ran away to hide at my house for a week. My dad wasn’t amused, but I was.”

 

Steve’s eyebrows pulled together. “How old are you again?”

 

Bucky looked at Steve and for a second he could see that dumbass punk picking fights in alleys before -and after- the war started. Thankfully, Sharon seemed amused, and not ready to murder. “I’m six years younger than Tony. I was in my senior year of high school when Tony came to hide from the possibility of adult relationships. Obadiah called to ask twice if we’d seen Tony after he disappeared, but Happy hadn’t been concerned, which means he at least knew where Tony was. Nothing’s changed since then. He still doesn’t want that in his life.”

 

Steve looked way too amused at the idea of a young Tony being run off by the possibility of getting cooties, and Bucky couldn’t say he blamed him. They really need to stop this right now, Tony was an adult, he didn’t need them treating his every personal issue like he was a cranky toddler doing something cute.

 

She looked between the two of them with thinly veiled upset, like she was running through all the other reasons they could have for being so buddy buddy with Tony now. “Money? Is that it? Is he spoiling you two with toys so you finally decided he’s worth your time?”

 

“No, he’s not-”

 

“Fury told me that if I hadn’t crashed, that… that if I had been around when Tony was little, I would have been his godfather. That Howard had wanted me to be his godfather. I should have been there for him. Not…” He couldn’t bring himself to say his name, but Sharon nodded once in recognition, looking less than amused, but nowhere near as pissed as before. She sighed.

 

“If that’s what it took to make you see him differently, fine, okay I’ll accept that. But this doesn’t mean he’s suddenly different, you know you can’t just mold him into whatever form you want him to be.”

 

“Of course not. We don’t want to. He’s perfect the way he is. I’ve just stopped… looking for flaws. When I got here I was angry and stupid and he was the easiest person to blame. He’d been the one that stopped funding the Arctic voyages, he’d been rich and cocky and… and it was easier to see him as an asshole instead of himself, which is sweet, and scared of letting people in and getting hurt, and he’s too good for half the assholes who claim to be his friends.”

 

Bucky looked between Sharon and Steve with wide eyes for a second before reaching over and putting his flesh hand on Steve’s forehead. “Are you sick? Do you need a hospital? Did you drug him?”

 

Sharon sat back with unconcealed laughter, looking way too amused. Steve just had his mouth clamped shut like he hadn’t basically just gushed about how much he loved Tony. Sharon didn’t seem phased at all, looking genuinely happy now. “Well, this _is_ a surprise, but I’m not shocked at how fast he took to get you two under his control. Anyone who knows that much, is well on their way to being wrapped around his sticky fingers and I’m not concerned in the slightest.”

 

Steve let out a little sigh, happy that she wasn’t going to kick their ass or something else that will lead to an equal amount of embarrassment for them. “He’s a _good man_ , he doesn’t deserve our scorn and he certainly isn’t his father, which I’m realizing is a very good thing. I don’t see the point in hiding the fact that he’s one of my best friends in this time period and I like being around him.”

 

Sharon turned to look at Bucky with amusement, raising an eyebrow at him. He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling a little dry. “He’s right. My first memory of Tony after Hydra was Tony using that BARF device on my head, helping me remember what life was like before them, why I had joined the army to _stop_ them. He did that, asking for no reward, even after knowing what I’d done to his parents. He’s selfless and I wouldn’t be here without him, and I just want him happy.”

 

She looked between them with a satisfied little nod, pleased with their answers. “Good. Now you just have to convince Rhodey, and Pepper, and the original mother hen himself, Happy, and your continued existence will be assured.”

 

Both their smiles fell, and Bucky felt a ball of anxiety forming in his stomach. Steve just clamped his lips tight, obviously feeling the same way as him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Panic attacks seem to be a main theme. Also hurting Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So................................................. this was supposed to have another scene at the end with Rhodey talking to Steve and Bucky but then it didn't fit in cause Rhodey has NOT been there long enough (during this visit) for this talk to make sense and then suddenly my word count hit 4k and so I was like 'yeah, I'll post this part and get to work on the next' and so yeah Tony's got a broken leg and he's probably GONNA have a broken leg for quite a few more chapters and it's gonna have Rhodey and Pepper and Happy all there for a little bit and yeah, but I'm really happy that my word count is racking up again cause I've been having trouble writing love chapters lately for some reason, anyways, *hides in my hole again*

There was no secret to it, Tony was an very important part of Bucky’s self soothing needs.

 

At first Steve had been the important one there. Bucky would have a panic attack or a flashback, or just generally, a terrible day, and he’d go to Steve for help. It was important to his mental wellbeing, and that was still how things went.

 

But, nowadays, Tony was important too. In fact, Tony might be the more important component here, because Tony had this ability that none of the rest of them could achieve; he could stop Bucky’s panic attacks before they started.

 

Which is why Bucky is breathing hard as he shakily made his way down to the basement stairwell, vision going a little blurry before he had to sit down on a step halfway through.

 

After they removed the trigger words, after they got rid of… well they didn’t _get rid_ of the Winter Soldier, he’s still in there, but once he wasn’t so hard to reach -it was a relief and a pain because the Winter Soldier was both the most terrifying thing in his mind, and yet, he was every coping mechanism Bucky had ever had in his life, so far out of reach- and Bucky had no idea how to deal with… anything…

 

He doesn’t even remember what caused this one, just that one minute he was making a tray of brownies in the kitchen with Thor, and the next he was breathing hard and heading for the stairs. He didn’t come back to himself until things started settling inside him, and he blinked, once, twice, and found himself halfway down the stairs to Tony’s lab with Tony himself sitting on him. Like, as fully on him as a person can be.

 

“We need to get you a service dog.”

 

Bucky grunted once, his metal hand sitting on Tony’s hip while the flesh one rubbed up and down Tony’s back. He was pressed into the stairs in a rather uncomfortable way while Tony pressed into his neck and legs and stomach. “When did I get here?”

 

“Ten minutes ago. Jarvis said you were having a panic attack on the stairs.”

 

“Oh.” Everything was silent for a minute while he contemplated that. Steve couldn’t do this for him. He was too big, too awkward, couldn’t sit still for long enough to help as well as Tony could. Tony was good though, small enough not to be awkward, compact with muscle enough to be heavy instead of just there, calm enough to relax into him with his full weight. And apparently, uncaring enough to help in even the most awkward of positions. God these stairs were uncomfortable. “Why a service dog?”

 

“They can be trained to recognize the signs of a panic attack and sit on you before it gets bad.”

 

That’s the only thing they’ve found that helps so far. Pressure. Steve has tried this a few times but it always left them both vaguely frustrated with the situation and usually pretty distant with each other afterwards. Even before the war, back when Steve was tiny, Steve didn’t take well to being asked to sit in his lap like he was some damn dame. Even when they both knew it wasn’t because Bucky was belittling him in any way, even when Steve knew that Bucky just loved the way it felt to be pushed back into the bed with something heavy on top, it always made Steve feel weird and awkward.

 

Tony was the complete opposite of that. He liked sitting on people. He was weird like that. Bucky once found him sitting in Natasha’s lap in a move that should have been awkward and strange, but they just looked so damn comfortable. Tony had a completely different mindset than Steve did, it’s one of the easiest ways he knew to show love -because the team was quickly starting to realize that Tony had no idea how to show affection anyway but buying people things, and hugging them, and Steve was all for the second one, but even just trying to get Tony to admit he liked them all was like pulling teeth- and Bucky was taking advantage of that as much as he could.

 

Because right now it was the only thing keeping him grounded.

 

“Do they make dogs big enough for a super soldier? I mean… you’re _barely_ heavy enough to work, and you’re a ways bigger than a pup, doll.”

 

Tony snuffed into his neck a little, making himself comfortable there. He sounded half asleep, and Bucky wonders for a moment how long they’ve been there. “We could get a big dog for you, like a really big one. I’m not sure if people normally do big dogs for service animals, but they’d have to admit, that if you need more weight, you need more weight.” He sighed, making himself more comfortable again. “I don’t mind helping. I like this too.”

 

Bucky just stared at him in wonder for a minute, thinking that he was so damn lucky to find this man.

 

The first time they’d found something that could curb Bucky’s panic attacks, they had been in one of the offices in SI. Steve and Bucky had been sitting in Tony’s office, Bucky already on edge that day while they waited for Tony to get out of a personal meeting in the other room with the king of Wakanda, when the office door had been pushed open and a giant hairball had come through, meowing like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth as she placidly started sniffing around the room like she owned the place.

 

It seems, the king has a hard time controlling his subjects.

 

She wandered up to where they were sitting on the couch, and Steve was already pulling away from her with a nervous look. They didn’t know what breed she was, but she was at least as big as a Maine Coon, maybe bigger, she was massive. Bucky was still breathing too hard to really pull away from her like Steve had, but she jumped up onto the couch, pushing her way into Bucky’s lap without so much as a ‘how do you do?’

 

And suddenly, when she was pleased and settled in his lap, heavy as a kid and purring away like she couldn’t be happier, Bucky could breathe again.

 

That’s when they learned at least one trick. Pressure. It really helped.

 

Tony had bought about a million of those pressure blankets with the weights in them for helping people with sensory issues, and those worked in a pinch, but there was just no substitute for a living body throwing their entire weight on you.

 

They hadn’t actually discovered that until Bucky had a panic attack without anything available but Tony himself and the genius hadn’t wasted a moment’s thought about it before just climbing right into his lap and making himself comfortable.

 

Like he said, Steve has tried it, and it never turned out right, but Tony was a natural. He was perfect, and Bucky didn’t hesitate to say that in those fragile first few months after they’d found this, he’d really needed Tony. But now, it was just a comfort to know he was there.

 

***

 

Happy Hogan was a great guy. Seriously, just the fact that the Avengers knew how far he would go to keep Tony safe made them all love him, but once you _really_ got to know him, you saw that he actually got protective over more than just Tony or Pepper or Rhodey.

 

The guy had a soft spot a mile wide for Natasha -and to be completely serious for a moment, so did Pepper, and wasn’t that an interesting thought- and he’d been known to get between the press and _Steve_ when the need came up. It was almost a shock to be honest. The guy was great, and he honestly cared about their wellbeing and safety. Them, the superheros. He wanted to protect the superheros.

 

When Jarvis had informed them at breakfast that Happy and Pepper were going to be in town for at least a month and would be spending the majority of it at the mansion, the grin that had split Tony’s face had been enough to make Steve want to beg them to just move in with them all.

 

But so far, Pepper and Happy have been there five minutes, and Happy has made plans with Steve and Bucky to catch a ballgame on tv that weekend, and Pepper has politely -with a smile on her face and everything- threatened to completely destroy their lives politically, socially and financially if they hurt Tony.

 

Of course, Tony didn’t see her do that, he was currently tucked up under Happy’s arm on the other side of the opulent living room while chattering on about something to do with Dummy that had happened while Happy was gone and dragging him in the direction of the lab. Happy looked back at them with an almost dangerous smirk and Bucky decided to mentally recategorize the man as a possible enemy… if they fuck up and hurt Tony in some way.

 

***

 

James Rhodes has known Tony since he was fourteen. A tiny little fourteen year old with parental issues who had just moved away from his home and didn’t know how to do laundry or even make food well enough to survive.

 

He’d figured out the coffee maker pretty fast, which, let me tell you, Tony was perfectly willing to not know how to work the damn thing but after Rhodey had caught him _eating_ coffee grounds, the older teenager had taken the coffee grounds from him and refused to give them back until Tony figured how to make coffee. The joys of being taller and stronger were amazing when you’ve basically adopted a grumpy little brother.

 

But, he was still the one who knew Tony best out of all of them. He knew how to calm Tony down when he gets sensory overload, and he knew his moods better than anyone.

 

Which is why when he finally got the chance to head to the mansion, he noticed that things were… different… and that is cause for suspicion.

 

“Where’s Tony?” He poked his head in the living room after letting himself into the mansion, and raised his eyebrow. Tony had obviously been sleeping there since there was a pile of blankets -more like a nest of blankets- spread out over a couch along with snacks and cups and even a few tablets scattered around that area.

 

But no Tony. Just Clint sitting on the other couch in the room with a cerca 90s Gameboy that he was cussing at.

 

“Last I saw he was limping to the kitchen.”

 

Rhodey fought really hard to hold back the sigh. And failed. “And you just _let_ him?”

 

Clint squawked, “I’m not his _keeper_ because I’m in the same room as him, he’s a grown ass adult!”

 

“And you just let your teammate, with a broke leg, who’s not on anything stronger than acetaminophen, who’s _already_ disabled, who has been for _so_ long that the idea of complaining about pain is a hundred percent foreign to him, walk away, possibly to pass out in some unknown corner where we won’t find him for five hours because he has a nasty habit of muting Jarvis? _That_ grown ass adult?”

 

Clint lowered his gameboy with a horrified look. “What do you mean he’s not on his painkillers? The doctor prescribed vicodin, why wouldn’t he take that? Oh _god_ he’s probably dead somewhere and none of us know it!”

 

He jumped off the couch with a frantic look, and Rhodey snorted, following after him into the kitchen.

 

Where Tony was perfectly fine and healthy, eating a sandwich under the sternly watchful eye of Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Good.

 

“What’s all the yelling about?”

 

Clint let out a little annoyed sigh, now that he saw Tony was perfectly safe and happy. “Ugh, he’s fine, his parents are watching him, can I go back to my game?”

 

He didn’t wait for Rhodey to reply, leaving anyways with a little grumble, sounding annoyed.

 

“What’s wrong with him?”

 

Rhodey came over to the counter and ran and hand through Tony’s limp hair, amused at the way he leaned into it with a happy hum around his sandwich. “Nothing, Tones, you just keep eating.”

 

Tony just shrugged and went back to his sandwich. Steve was standing behind the counter making -yes, making, like he’s some kind of 80s mother with neighbors he needs to impress or some shit- bread. Tony had _tried_ to tell them they could just order groceries if they all run out, but Steve had pointedly -see; angrily- opened up the pantry door and pointed at the literal sacks of flour and shelves of so many much baking supplies it was a little scary. Where had they all come from?

 

Either way, Steve’s made a new best friend, their name is YouTube and he’s been watching recipe videos for like ten hours straight and making stuff all week.

 

No one wants to talk about the pasta maker incident.

 

So far Tony’s favorites were the sourdough loaves -which he has had with his lunch every single day for a week- and the brownies that no one had been around to watch Tony eat the entire rest of the pan last night while everyone was asleep.

 

They had all blamed Thor, and for some reason he had agreed… it was strange…

 

“So, apparently Tony isn’t taking his vicodine?”

 

Tony looked over at Bucky with a glare, as if daring him to take that back. Bucky just ignored him, still looking at his tablet while he drank his coffee like some sort of… of _parent_. God, boring.

 

Steve looked up with a concerned-puppy noise that made Tony want to throw a tomato at Bucky for worrying him. “Tony, you should really be taking your pills-”

 

“In case either of you are forgetting, or I don’t know, maybe you never knew this, but I’m an _alcoholic_. I don’t have time to go to rehab for drug abuse. Again. No thanks.”

 

Steve just looked _stressed_ now. In a painfully disturbed sort of way, and it made Tony feel a little sick, but Bucky didn’t look surprised in the slightest. Now Tony really _was_ thinking about throwing something at him, because that asshole probably _knew_. There wasn’t much Hydra didn’t know about his public records personal life, and a disturbingly high amount of his private medical records, and Bucky had a mind like a steel trap once he was finished going through the brainwashing bullshit.

 

“Good. Then you can stop lying to Steve whenever he reminds you to take a pill.”

 

That dirty lying asshole. Tony doesn’t like him anymore. Steve was his new favorite now. Bucky was an evil tricksy jerk who does tricksy things and is a jerk.

 

He turned the other way with a huff, not wanting to talk to him anymore.

 

Rhodey just snorted, looking way too amused. “Hey Bucky, can you help me with something? I need a little extra strength and Clint is a lazy asshole at the best of times.”

 

Bucky stood up with a stretch, looking amused. Like a jerk. “Alright.”

 

When Tony and Steve were alone, Tony couldn’t look him in the eye, not until a minute later when Steve put his current pan in the oven, turned on the timer, and let out a little sigh, like he knew neither of them were gonna be happy with this. Tony stuffed the last of his sandwich in his mouth so he wouldn’t have to talk.

 

“Tony, you’re a grown adult, and I trust you to know the limits of broken bones… when you don’t absolutely _need_ to work past them anyways that is. Either way, I just… I’d prefer if you didn’t lie to me about taking heavy pain killers. I was okay with you walking around on that cast before, that’s why you asked the doctor to give you the boot anyways, but now I’m worried that you being up at all is pushing yourself too far.”

 

Tony looked at him for a moment before looking away again. “I’m fine Steve.”

 

“I know you are. You always are, Tony.” And boy, that sounded both sarcastic and loving all at once and Tony wanted to throw something at him now, because he’s got this stupid flashback in his head of Jarvis once telling him that, Jarvis, the first Jarvis, that he was _always_ fine, but it didn’t have to be.

 

He reached up to rub at his tired eyes, thinking that he’s been awake far too long if he’s getting annoyed and weepy all at the same time. “I can handle it, please don’t make me take them.”

 

He remembers being with people who tried to get him to take pills before, and… in the end he always gave in. He’s _weak_ and stupid and he couldn’t control himself and Rhodey was the only person that was ever good to him-

 

He pulled in a shaky breath of air when he felt Steve’s hand on his arm, rubbing gently in an attempt to soothe. It worked for a few seconds, but then Tony thought of what it would be like going through a detox with a newly mended leg, with a literal hole in his chest where a hunk of metal was sitting keeping his heart going, where he was surrounded by teammates who were so damn ashamed of him for being so weak.

 

All because Captain Fucking America thought he needed to take his pills and Tony would give into that temptation and poison himself if given half a chance to.

 

“Calm down buddy, deep breaths. Take some deep breaths for me, there you go, I need you to breath, listen to me and try to do as I do, okay?”

 

Tony tried to match their breathing together, shaking a little as he went, and Steve’s hand was on his back, rubbing in a way that made him tired and boneless. He sagged against Steve’s chest and Steve gently moved them until he was turned just enough that Tony’s ear was pressed into his chest. Right over his heart.

 

It was loud and soothing and Tony could feel his breathing go back to normal, and just sighed, tiredly leaning against him.

 

“I’m not asking you to take the pills, Tony. That’s not why I’m upset right now.”

 

Tony turned enough that he could look up at him without taking his ear off Steve’s chest. This is his new favorite place in the world, thanks. “What are you saying?”

 

Steve looked around for a minute, and let out a sigh that deepened his breaths, nearly shaking Tony off of him until he moved a half a step forward so Tony didn’t have to strain so much to get to him.

 

“Listen, I was disabled from birth okay, I know how to handle pain, I would _never_ say you were weak for wanting painkillers, or for _not_ wanting them. But I do know there are other ways to relieve pain and I don’t want you running around on a broken leg without any help just because you thought it was either or.”

 

Tony thought about that for a moment. Sometimes it was sort of hard to believe that Steve used to be disabled. Howard sure as fuck never talked about him before they gave him the serum. He looked down at his hands and blinked a few times, too tired to fully digest that.

 

“Like what?”

 

“Well for one, fever reducers. You should be taking fever reducers to lower the swelling in your leg before you walk on it. I know we didn’t have much access to medicine back in my day, but whenever I could, that was a life saver on my joints. I know there are a lot of topical ointments you can rub on the outside of the skin that will make the pain go away less too. I just don’t want you running around like this without knowing what you can take right now.”

 

Tony gave a little sigh, nuzzling his head into Steve’s chest a little. “Fine.”

 

Steve smiled at him a little, looking way too fond.

 

“I don’t mean to interrupt this little… whatever this is… but Tony needs a nap.”

 

Tony looked up at Rhodey in the doorway and glared. Steve looked between them for a moment before focusing back on Tony again. “He’s right. You’re tired.”

 

Tony whined a little, not moving from his place collapsed against Steve’s chest. Steve tried moving back a little until Tony would let go, but Tony just kept leaning off the chair until he was threatening to fall to the floor and Steve moved back again with a sigh, picking him up off the chair without a word. Rhodey looked way too amused.

 

Steve carried him out to the living room without complaint and stopped next to what used to be Tony’s couch.

 

It was in fact, now, two couches pushed together to form a sort of walled bed, of sorts. Rhodey and Bucky had taken out all the cushions and replaced them with a mattress, made into a bed and full of blankets and pillows. It looked like a nest.

 

No, it sort of looked like a crib.

 

Steve mentally slapped himself as soon as he thought that. He was supposed to _stop_ thinking of Tony as a child. Tony is an adult.

 

And he is currently half asleep and clinging to his neck like a little monkey.

 

He sighed, setting Tony down in the soft nest of blankets and pillows. Tony had been moved to the ground floor of the mansion -along with everyone else, but if he had his own room like any of them did, he’d never come out because of his leg- and he’s been sleeping in the living room for the past few days since it all happened.

 

Tony looked around the soft blanket nest with wide eyes for a moment before the tears -oh god those _tears_ Steve was _weak_ to those tears- started coming back.

 

“Rhodey, you put me in jail.”

 

Rhodey didn’t look all that sorry, more amused than anything, but he leaned over the side of the couch so he could run his fingers through Tony’s hair again, sounding a little like a coo when he replied. “Tones, it’s not jail, it’s a nest. Nests are fun.”

 

Tony flopped backwards, choking on a sob, sounding so _betrayed_ . “It’s jail you put me in _jail_ I hate you.”

 

That sweet little voice, Steve was starting to hate Rhodey too, How could he not when Tony sounded so _sad_?

 

“Would you quit crying? It’s really annoying.” For all that he said, Clint didn’t really sound all that annoyed. He’d finally abandoned his gameboy on the final remaining couch in the room and had taken off his sweater and shoes. He climbed over the side of the couches -like Steve and Bucky wished they could do to comfort him, but they were trying to treat Tony like the adult he was- and started pulling Tony under the covers with him, snuggling into his side. “Stop crying, I can’t sleep when you cry.”

 

Same, Clint, same.

 

“It’s jail, Clint. I’m in jail.”

 

Clint snorted, rubbing his hand up and down Tony’s side while he nuzzled into his shoulder. Bucky could feel a weird jealous emotion bubbling out of him at the sight of Clint comforting the genius. That should be _him_.

 

“Go to sleep. I’ll help you make a jailbreak later.”

 

Tony was literally too tired to keep crying. He sagged down against the archer with a little huff of air, and was asleep in seconds.

 

Steve and Bucky both wished that was them with him. They both wished it was either of them Tony was cuddled up to. Who he went to to get comfort. Who knew what he needed when he was sick.

 

Jealousy was gross, but they couldn’t help it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, if you imply you thought this fic was abandoned, I will place a curse on you and your family. I didn't abandon the fic. Calm the fuck down.

Watching movies with Tony was fun, but it could be hell when he was in a mood as well. See, Tony probably watched, on average, as many movies as Steve and Bucky themselves did. Which is to say, he didn’t watch many at all, and a lot of the movies that even Clint and Bruce had seen as kids, Tony hadn’t seen.

 

They’d tried to watch older Disney movies with him exactly once before Tony had muttered something about bad animations and left the room.

 

As it turns out, there was literally no convincing someone with that much ADHD to sit through something as badly thought out as Sharknado. Tony had ended up promising to come back from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and just… not… coming… back…

 

So, in the end, convincing Tony to watch a new movie was like pulling teeth. If he hasn’t seen it before he won’t watch it with others half the time because he, and I quote, ‘when something big happens sometimes I have to pause the moving and get up and scream or pace around for a little while or I get distracted and need to finish a project real quick, and I know you guys usually say it’s okay for me to pause the movie while I need to freak out about something but you don’t understand it gives me  _ anxiety _ if I know you’re waiting for me to come back to watch it with you, you don’t understand sometimes I need to wait a full week before I can finish a new movie I cannot watch it with you the first time through because  _ it’s not you I’m worried about it’s my pending panic attack from making you wait I’m worried about _ ,’ and that… was not the expected answer to their constant questions.

 

“God, this movie is so dumb, if they used  _ holograms _ for their padlocks there wouldn’t be any freaking prints for someone to figure out in the first place!” Tony growled from his place confined in his couch nest, throwing a piece of popcorn towards the far wall that turned out to be a giant television. It didn’t make it more than three feet before it fell and hit Steve in the head from where he was mostly passed out with his head on a pillow between Tony and Bucky’s legs. He snorted once and looked up at them with tired eyes.

 

Bucky looked back with eyes just as tired. It has been a long three days with Tony constantly trying to escape back to the workshop and lock them all out. He’s been in that cast less than a week and he’s hateful for being barred from his work this long.

 

Not that he  _ hasn’t _ been working, he’s been in five conference meetings with Pepper just yesterday, and the living room was littered with holo devices for him to continue his work.

 

No, he’s upset he’s not allowed any  _ physical _ work.

 

Steve and Bucky have been on constant watch since this had all started three days ago, and it was starting to show in all of them. Tony was so exhausted that any and every suggestion was met with an angry glare and usually growls. Bucky was at the point where he fell asleep standing up yesterday and had an hour long cat nap while Tony tried to convince Steve to let him go to the lab, and Steve was all but useless at this point.

 

Steve turned as well as he could on the nest with a sigh so heartfelt Bucky felt it in his soul. “Jarvis, stop the movie, please.”

 

“Of course, Captain.” The screen flicked back to home screen, a nice looking thing that Bruce had put together while bored one day, with those dorky pictures that flip through like a scrapbook while no one was using it. It had pictures of the whole team there.

 

Steve sat up enough that he could see Tony’s glaring eyes in the dimmer light, the arc reactor light covered by the black tank top he wore. “Tony, it’s time for bed. Now.”

 

A flicker of something crossed Tony’s face before he just glared harder, but Steve was quick to catch it and quicker to realize what it meant. “No.”

 

“Yes. I said so, so we’re going to sleep. All three of us. Now, eyes closed and lay down.”

 

Tony faltered for a few seconds before looking at Steve almost nervously.

 

“Lay down, just like that, thank you.”

 

When Tony was laying down again, Steve moved just enough that Bucky and him could box Tony in on either side, and laid down to his left, turning to look at Bucky’s amused look over the top of Tony’s head where Tony had managed to bury his face in the soldier’s neck, making himself comfortable.

 

“Nice dad voice.”

 

Steve blushed a little, hiding his face in the back of Tony’s hair. “I don’t have a dad voice.”

 

Tony let out a little sigh into Bucky’s neck. “It’s a dad voice. Kind of a daddy voice. It’s not a Howard voice.”

 

The two of them stared at Tony’s head for a long time. Steve felt both warm, and enraged at that. He settled down against the pillows, letting his eyes slip shut as the tv flipped off and the sun started coming up behind the heavy curtains.

 

It wasn’t a Howard voice. He didn’t want it to be a Howard voice.

 

***

 

Tony was a man of his word, granted that he remembers the conversation, but Bucky really should have expected this since Tony had seemed so flippant about it when he’d mentioned it. If Tony was mentioning something, it means he’s been thinking about it for a while now.

 

Which means that Tony had somehow managed to hobble to the backyard -the expansive, wide green backyard that had made Bucky immediately think of how easy it would be for a sharp shooter to take them all out there, and another three months to stop obsessing over that thought- and was laying on his back in the thick grass, letting out soft laughs while a fluffball the size of a small child licked at his face eagerly. There were in fact, at least five giant fluffballs running around the yard.

 

“I see he’s been captured with no hope of escape.”

 

The woman, sitting on the patio furniture with a glass of tea and sunglasses, turned to stare at Bucky in the doorway before letting out a soft little chuff. Bucky had  _ no idea _ who she was. “Not with that leg anyways.”

 

Bucky watched her for a few moments before sitting down across from her at the table. He still couldn’t put a name to the face. He might honestly not know her. “I’m Bucky.”

 

He tried for polite, giving her a little smile that Tony assured him was one of his less terrifying smiles. She seemed nonplussed either way. He didn’t try to shake her hand and she seemed almost relieved he didn’t offer. “Brittany. I assume you’re the one he called me for. Said he needed a  _ big _ dog who’s gentle enough for a war veteran. Why don’t you go interact with the puppies, see which one takes a liking to you.”

 

Bucky blinked at her once, head tilting to the side. “Me?”

 

It was like the cheerful demeanor around the woman just stuttered to a halt, making Bucky want to cringe a little. She took off her sunglasses, pointing a glare towards Tony still laying on the grass, surrounded by giant puppies. “You decided to get him a dog  _ without telling him _ ? Do you not  _ know _ how shitty of a surprise that is? You don’t just dump a child on an unsuspecting parent and you should treat all pets like perpetual toddlers, if he’s not ready for a dog that’s going to be the size of an adult man in a year then you shouldn’t have called me.”

 

Tony sat up from the puppy pile with an adorably confused look on his face. Bucky obviously couldn’t bring himself to be nearly as annoyed with him as the woman was. “I  _ did _ tell him. I told him we should get him a service dog, and these pups are still young enough to be trained for anxiety work. I’m not just  _ getting him a dog _ , he’ll pick whichever one he likes.”

 

Bucky couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed -not like he  _ wasn’t _ okay with getting a pet, he just thought it would be a while before one dropped in lap- but with that explanation he could see what had the woman so upset with him. He turned back to the woman with a little sigh. “He’s right. He told me. I just assumed he didn’t remember it himself since he was half asleep when he told me. I just… well you know, saying you’ll do something is one thing, getting yourself to do it is another.”

 

The girl watched him for another few moments, before slipping her sunglasses back on, nodding. “Alright, go play with the puppies, I’m sure you’ll take a liking to one of them.”

 

Bucky nodded, shyly getting off the patio chair before he wandered over to the grass, sinking down into the green with Tony there, letting out a little huff when the puppies started attacking him as well.

 

The back patio door opened again, and Steve came trotting out with a tray, looking like some damn housewife in a way that made Bucky simultaneously want to throw something at him, and kiss him, at the same time. God, that man was an utter cliche sometimes.

 

He set the tray down at the table with the woman, sitting down where Bucky had been before. “So, you’re a dog breeder?”

 

Brittany paused, before grabbing a watermelon spear from the tray, and shrugged. “No one should  _ breed _ dogs unless it’s to help the species. That’s unethical. I bought a Newfoundland dog from some jerk above the border, he decided not to tell me she was already pregnant. I got her fixed after the puppies were born, but I don’t have the time for a whole pack of them.”

 

Steve nodded, awkwardly sitting with the nearly silent woman while she watched the pack of puppies bond with Tony and Bucky. Most likely they would either decide on one, or there would end up being two of them running around the mansion, but they seemed to be in a world of their own while they watched them.

 

“Do you know what you’re going to do with the rest of them?” Steve didn’t know much about pounds, but most of them probably couldn’t care for a dog that’s going to get that big either.”

 

She watched the two men for another moment before looking back at Steve. “Mister Stark said he could help me find homes for them, but he wanted your husband to get first pick.”

 

Yeah, that sounded like something Tony would do. 

 

***

 

“His name is Chester and I love him.” Tony was back to his couch nest, with the puppy up in it with him, cuddling into the soft fur of the overly large pet while Bucky, the owner of this amazing new pet, went entirely ignored while he came back from the kitchen.

 

Until Chester realized he had food, at which point, he came to the edge of the nest, begging in the same way that Tony did when he wanted something.

 

Oh no, Bucky and Steve weren’t just gonna be wrapped around Tony’s sticky fingers, but around furry little paws too. 

 

“I still say you should have named him Nick Furry.” Clint was pouting from outside the nest, before giving the dog a little kiss on his nose when he came over to investigate. The dog huffed once, and leaned up to attack his face with licks. They would be fast friends. 

 

Natasha elbowed him in the stomach. “That joke only works if he’s only got one eye. You can’t just point at a brown dog and call him that, it’s racist.”

 

Clint just pouted harder, before sighing. “I miss Lucky.”

 

He still got to see Lucky every once in a while when he visited Kate, but it wasn’t the same.

 

“I always wanted a cat.” Natasha looked a little wistful, and Clint wondered for a moment why she’d never gotten one. 

 

“Hey, guys, I have an amazing idea.” Oh no, Clint always gets this weird feeling in his stomach when Tony says that.

 

***

 

The animal shelter was nice, but they looked run down as any shelter with an overabundance of animals and not enough funding to keep them properly running.

 

You know, it probably should have been a surprise that Tony wouldn’t take them to some fancy pet store with five hundred dollar puppies, but the look on his face when Bucky had nervously asked to make sure that wasn’t their destination -because Bucky loved animals and read all about how pet stores hurt the animals with bad breeding and poor care- but Tony had let out a little hiss, not unlike a street cat faced with a sticky fingered toddler.

 

It was adorable. Steve needs to stop thinking this about him. He’s an adult, and he should be treated like one. No matter how cute it is when his nose scrunched up like that.

 

He went to the counter where Tony was filling out forms with an eager looking employee there. He knew that look, that was the look most workers got when Tony handed over a donation they hadn’t been expecting him to. 

 

Tony cared about animals. But apparently, not about his still healing leg, since he’d opted out of sitting down at the chair the woman had given him, filling out forms at the counter while he leaned against it. 

 

Tony looked up with a grin that made Steve want to pepper kisses all over his face. He was so… cute. Maybe Steve needed help? “Did you find your furry soulmate, Cap?”

 

The worker let out an amused little snort, but Steve just grinned at him, feeling all fuzzy in his chest. “Honestly? I think I did. He’s perfect, three years old, beagle. Adorable.”

 

“He introduced himself to Steve by, quite literally, biting his ankles and then licking him in apology.” Bucky came out of the viewing room with a shit eating grin, looking way too amused.

 

Tony mirrored his grin, looking back at Steve excitedly. “So let me get this straight, a tiny little thing with the courage of a god came and bit you, and you decided he was perfect?”

 

Bucky just followed up with another stupidly wide grin. “That’s not the best part, ask his name, Tony, go ahead, ask.”

 

Tony was  _ living _ for this moment. “What’s his name, Cap?”

 

Steve looked away with a bright red flush to his cheeks, and Tony heard the employee behind the desk let out a squeak more suited to a mouse. He mumbled out something, and Tony was almost bouncing in place in his excitement, but still leaning against the front desk so he wouldn’t trip over his cast. He still had another week left with the thing on, but this was going to be  _ good _ .

 

“What was that? I didn’t catch it, sorry.”

 

Steve just sighed, eyes rolling up to look at the ceiling. “Freedom. His name is Freedom.”

 

Tony clutched at his chest below the reactor, looking unequivocally joyed by this news. “Oh sweet stars, I think you just gave me a heart attack. Steve, you might have just found your  _ actual _ soulmate.”

 

Bucky made a sad little noise in the back of his throat. “I thought  _ I _ was his soulmate.”

 

Tony nodded. “Yeah, the human one.”

 

In the other room, Rhodey was sitting next to Sam, who looked a little weepy as he sat in a  _ pile _ of kittens. Oh dear sweet Jesus they were adorable.

 

“I should only pick one, right?”

 

Rhodey let out a little sigh. Sam was… pretty… “Well, seeing as there’s going to be quite a few more animals in the mansion, it wouldn’t be all that bright to take home ten of them. Though goodness knows, when Howard and Maria had been there, that place was overrun with cats.”

 

Sam gave the man a curious look, clutching a mewling little kitten to his chest while she gnawed at his finger. He likes this one. Maybe. Actually, he likes all of them, but this one was slowly worming her way into his heart.

 

“They had cats?”

 

Rhodey nodded with a little shrug. “Maria liked cats. Tony said by the time he was five, Howard would just get her a new cat whenever he fucked up. As you can imagine, the house was soon taken over.”

 

Sam snorted out with a shake of his head. “Well, if Tony got anything from his dad, it was a need to ply people with furry animals.”

 

“Also, an absentmindedness that’s nearly killed them both by making them eat moldy food, and a fear of spiders.”

 

Sam let out a little choke. “Stark is afraid of spiders? And his dad was too?”

 

Rhodey nodded. “I once saw the both of them come running from the pool room in a hurry after finding a spider in one of the towels. They wouldn’t go back in until Maria assured them it was gone. I would have done it myself, but I was laughing too hard. She seemed  _ very _ used to it.”

 

Sam just chuckled into the fur on the back of the kitten he was still holding, half asleep in his hands. Yeah, he’s decided he’s keeping this one. “Why aren’t you picking one out? Surely you could use a pet too?”

 

Rhodey just grinned at him with that breathtaking smile that made Sam glad he was already sitting. “Oh, you don’t know? Tony  _ is _ my pet.”

 

Sam looked at him consideringly for a moment. “Is that… a pet play, thing?”

 

Rhodey actually choked at that, and Sam had to bite his cheek to keep from grinning. “I um… no I meant that as a joke. Well, sort of. He basically  _ is _ my pet, in so much as, he’s my best friend, but also neither of us have any arguments that he would have killed himself twenty times over if not for me and Sharon, plus, he’ll sit on basically anyone, and- you know what, I should ask him if he’s into that, I mean, I’ve known him since he was fourteen and he’s never had a lick of self consciousness around me so I doubt it-”

 

Sam was  _ thinking _ about stopping him to tell him was joking, but, damn, this is amusing. Really amusing. Finally, he took pity on the man though. “So, no pet?”

 

Rhodey looked around, cheeks hot and looking a little nervous. “I… no. I… my life is a little to busy for a perpetual toddler. Again, that’s what I have Tony for.”

 

Sam was amused that of all the things in his rant, that was the one he apparently wasn’t going to take back. Amused, and a little interested, but it’s fine. He thought Rhodey’s ranting was cute anyways.

 

***

 

The group had come home from the rescue shelter with eight pets. Far more than most of them thought they would get, but it was nice.

 

Natasha had ended up with two mated female cats, immediately falling in love with them both. None of them would dare separate the two of them. Thor hadn’t been able to choose between a cat and a dog, and had chosen one of each. They both seemed to like the god.

 

Bruce had absolutely  _ melted _ when he met the most obese cat in existence named Chestnut. Chester and Chestnut were probably going to be best friends one day. Bruce was already planning a diet plan for the cat to get him in better shape.

 

Sam got his tiny kitten. She was precious and thought his fingers were food.

 

Clint got a young husky, a smart little thing that apparently, had already managed to steal Clint’s sandwich in the five hours since they’ve been home. Tony has an instant love of him.

 

And of course, then, there was Freedom.

 

“He’s kinda cute.”

 

Bucky let out a little snort. They were in Steve and Bucky’s room, the one on the upper floors, since Tony was finally well enough to go upstairs with some help, and the cast would be off in a week. Tony had insisted that Freedom and Chester needed to get to know their new rooms right away instead of changing them up in a week.

 

Tony was curled up on the bed slightly behind the two of them, looking sleepy from the remains of his afternoon nap there, and precious as ever. Chester was passed out on an oversized puppy bed next to the french doors leading out to a plant covered terrace. It was one of the nicer views of the front of the mansion. Nice and bright and beautiful. It seemed to have inspired Steve’s inner artist right away, but Tony liked napping in here when they let him, which was all the time.

 

Tony had never been one for sleep, but there was just something comforting knowing that Steve and Bucky were looking out for him while he was asleep, that made it  _ not _ the worst thing in the world.

 

“He’s very cute, almost as cute as you.”

 

Tony couldn’t help but lean into the hand scratching through his hair with a little sigh, utterly content like he always was around Steve and Bucky.

 

The fact that he’s still sleepy and warm while he watches Steve play on the carpet with his new friend, is what he’s blaming his loose lips on.

 

“Are you two into like… ageplay, or something?”

 

The hand in his hair stilled, and Steve looked up from the carpet, curious eyes landing on them. “Ageplay?”

 

The blood drained from Tony’s face.  _ Oh god why did I say that? _

 

He sat up with a little shake of his head, as if throwing off the nice feel that Bucky’s hands had had in his hair, and looked around shiftily. “You… don’t know what ageplay is?”

 

Bucky was frowning at the way he moved, but shook his head with Steve. “Never heard of that one, doll. Though the name sounds pretty… descriptive…”

 

Tony heaved himself off the bed with a hand on the edge of the baseboard. “Oh, well, you should ask Jarvis about that, really, he can help you out there. I… need to go see Rhodey, I’ll see you two later.”

 

He hobbled to the door, and though the two of them could have gotten there in time to stop him, they didn’t. It would be terrible to trap him when he looked so uncomfortable.

 

Especially since they don’t know everything about what was wrong. They had some questions to ask Jarvis before they could properly track Tony down.

 

***

 

Tony burst into Rhodey’s room down the hall from Steve and Bucky’s. It was a much more closed off room, with a big bay window on one side, and the paneling in a dark brown that melted the room into a soothing dark that made Tony sort of want to go back to sleep. The sun wasn’t even down yet.

 

He found Rhodey curled up in the bay window with a blanket and a book Sam had suggested to him, but when he looked up to see Tony looking so devastated, he let out a comforting little noise, lifting the blanket in invitation. “Come here, Tones.”

 

Tony slipped under the blanket with him, snuggling up into his side with a sad little noise as his Rhodey put the book back down, snuggling back into him as well. Rhodey made  _ everything _ better.

 

“What happened, Tones?”

 

Tony whimpered, and it took him a minute to get the words out. “I asked Steve and Bucky if they’re into ageplay. Oh god, Rhodey, kill me now, they’re going to hate me after this.”

 

Rhodey let out an amused little snort, pressing his lips into Tony’s hair while the boy whined against his chest. “I really doubt that. I mean, they basically already do it, I don’t see any reason for them to hate you for it.”

 

Tony just looked up at him sadly, eyes big and a little wet. Rhodey just made sure he was getting good cuddles. He had the feeling that Tony wouldn’t be convinced until he knew for sure.

 

They would just have to wait. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUN
> 
> As if you fuckers don't know exactly what Steve and Bucky gonna say when they find out ageplay is normal and they coulda been doing it with Tony all this time smh

**Author's Note:**

> avengersnonsexualageplay.tumblr.com


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